Publix 2/7/11

I am trying to do more couponing at Publix. A couple of things I have learned that I love about Publix:

~Buy One, Get One deals can be broken up, meaning the registers will ring one item at half price. That way if you only have one coupon you can get a maximum deal.

~Publix accepts grocery store coupons within a 5 mile radius of the store. It is particularly good to find one that is near a Target. Target has good coupons that Publix will accept. (This means the new PC location will be limited unless we get a Target soon.)

~Publix doubles coupons that are .50 or less.

Visit here to get there coupon policies.

Armed with this information I had a good start, and here is what I got today for $4.31...

1 Apple Juice,
4 sour creams,
1 Planters Peanuts
1 32oz jar of pickles,
4 Rotel Tomatoes.

It is only a few items, but I saved around 75%. To do this effectively you have to have self-control by resisting the temptation to pick up a few non-deals for convenience. Everything else there is over-priced, so it is no big deal to get back into the car and drive down the road to Aldi where I can get the rest of my groceries at rock bottom prices.

I Heart Walgreens

"Cha-CHING" was the sound coming from the cash register when I checked out at Walgreens today.
Deodorant
2 shaving gels
Children's cold medicine
2 body washes

I paid $2.45 out of my pocket for these items which I estimate to be worth more than $20.00. I got only the items that we would use. I passed on other deals. I had to add one of the body baths to keep the register from going into the negatives. Crazy, uh!! But, that is not all... the register printed $10 worth of register rewards that I can use like cash on my next shopping trip as a souvenir.

The best part is that my husband appreciates when I spend his money wisely, and make his dollar go farther. I love to make him HAPPY!!

Meat Processing

You shall eat the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you. ~Psalms 128:2

Alexey is cutting away anything we would not want to eat. She identifies the types of tissues found on the muscle. This is science, folks!

One big way we save money on our grocery bill is by slaying and processing our own deer. This is a family effort.

Catherine cleaning meat. She is developing a work ethic.

Vince usually gets 5 or so deer each year and that is enough to feed us until next season. We grind most of it, but we slice the tenderloins and keep about 8 roasts.

On this day, we ground over 80 pounds of lean, grass-fed meat and that doesn't include the roasts and tenderloins. Eventually, we hope to get the equipment to make cube steaks.

Brother gets involve when the motorized equipment is put to work.

This is the second year we have done this, so everyone knows just what to do. On this particular day we had 3 deer to process. Daddy spent one weekend this season at a hunting camp and got these 3 kills in that one weekend. We always give God ALL of the glory for His provision.

Catherine and I cutting butcher paper for the wrapping procedures.

We really are at His mercy as we have taken a few leaps of faith. One is that I stay out of the workforce and in our home raising and educating our children. The other is that we have opened our hearts to more children by allowing God to be sovereign over our family size. We are willing to give up luxuries in order to follow His will for our lives, but it looks like He wanted to bless us this year. And, to that we say thanks and YUMMY!!

Home Management and the Domestically Challenged

As we add children to our family, we are forced to deal with weaknesses that we were able to ignore or disguise before.

My name is Misty Smith, and I am domestically challenged. On so many levels, too, but I can only deal with them in baby step portions.

Home management is an area that I should have tackled with baby #3... NO, baby #1! But, I didn't so we have been suffering all of this time. Now baby #4 is a year old, and I am finally making some moves toward progress.

Recently, I have acquired the book Large Family Logistic which has helped me to improve.
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK!!

The changes that have brought us a bit of success?

Giving each day of the week a theme: Monday is Town Day; Tuesday is Laundry Day; Wednesday is Kitchen Day; Thursday is Office Day; Friday is Bed, Bath and Beyond Day; Saturday is a day of fun/rest and Sunday is for the Lord.

If on one of these days "life happens" as it often does--like sickness, ministry opportunity, birthday, field trip, ect.-- I don't have to stress because the day will come again in its rotation soon enough; and I will have another opportunity to tackle that day's jobs in a more comprehensively manner.

For instance, on Laundry Day last week I was unable to get the shower curtains washed because I had a few sick children who kept me distracted. They weren't too bad and could wait a week and I DID get 4 huge loads washed and folded and culled unmatched socks while I sat on the couch snuggling my sick ones. Tomorrow is the next Laundry Day so I will wash the shower curtain, Lord willing along with a whole host of laundry goals I hope to accomplish. I am the type that thrives on 2nd chances... and 3rd chances and 4th chances... which is why this works well for me.

The other feature that I have added to my home management scheme is the use of a timer. On Office Day, for instance, I alternate 15 minutes of playing and teaching the littles with 15 minutes of bill paying, school planning, couponing or whatever seems office-like. This way kiddos are getting their fix of my attention and don't seem to notice when I turn away for 15 minutes to do my chore. I will come back to their world before they realize my attention had been elsewhere. Maybe, during my time segment with them I might have an office job that I can include them in, like opening junk mail envelops or throwing away a pile of expired coupons.

These Home Management improvements have worked beautifully. The question is, can I maintain these changes long enough for them to morph into ingrained habits? I think so... pray for me.

Who Needs Welfare When We Have Walgreens!?!?!

Yes! I am bragging because I got ALL THIS for just over $3! It was not hard, but it did take a little investment of my time and attention to plan out these deals. TWO boxes of FiberOne, TWO packs of paperplates, TWO packs of batteries, One Wal-Zyr, one Extra Strength Headach relief, one shampoo, THREE boxes of ziploc baggies, FOUR boxes of Ritz crackers, one tube of Colgate and TWO bags of Jelly Beans to be saved for Easter... I think it well worth my time.

The Project are Coming!!

What is that I hear?...
The sound of school books slamming shut, the children are scurrying about gathering their projects while chanting "Do hard things, do hard things!"

STOP!!!!!

A side explanation for school parents: I am not dreaming this stuff up. This did happen in our home today, and similar events happen frequently in the homes of home-educated families across the nation. You need to know this!

Okay back to my story...

I AM very happy to hear this type of chanting, but I'll have to admit it makes me feel panicky inside because it means the projects are coming out of their closets and drawers. This is scary to a momma who likes to be neat and organized.

With all of this creative ingenuity brewing and stewing around here, mostly in the form of child-led PROJECTS, comes a need for table space.

Being the aesthetically sensitive and dreadfully frugal person that I am, thrift store stalking has been my main strategy for finding attractive and affordable tables to fill the bill. Months have passed by and I have not found what is needed. Plan B--which should have been Plan A--was to look around in our garage for ideas. Here is what we came up with:

This is a plastic foldaway table that my sister-in-law gave me. It is 48X24, the perfect size for this corner in my kitchen. A great spot for Alexey to decorate cakes or for other cooking projects. I plan to make a skirt it soon, and should transform to look something like this:

This is another 48X24 plastic table. I really like this size. I made a table skirt equipped with velcro so that it is detachable. I LOVE that it hides a wash tin which I use to give Aaron baths so the kitchen looks less cluttered. He likes to get under it and play, so it entertains him while I do kitchen work. I use this table to keep produce and homemade baked good out for the kids to snack on. It is also a great spot for my picnic basket filled with cloth napkins and bibs. A real multi-tasker! Cute, too!

This is in our library, and it is where the girls do a good deal of their school work. Looks like Catherine is putting a model covered wagon together. Here I took a large plastic folding table and covered it with some of our maps. I then covered it with a clear shower curtain and voila. They are learning more geography than ever, too. Oh, look... Catherine's glue stick is staking its claim in Oklahoma.

I threw this photo in for kicks. This little fellow loves when the girls rock him in this cradle even though he is too big for it.